Spirit World's Call
by hydrarianbeast
Summary: Yusei Fudo wakes up to find he is know ten years younger. He quickly contacts Crow to find this has happened to him and probably to the other signers. Yusei then takes a walk to find a girl. Everyone plans on meating at Martha's to figure out why they all changed, and the mysteries behind the girl.
1. Chapter 1

I woke up, covered in a cold sweat. Something was wrong. Something bad was going to happen.

I bolted upright and breathed heavily. I was in my home. Nothing was out of place. I sighed. My nerves had been a serious problem lately. I got out of bed and walked over to the sink. I splashed some water on my face. I was still feeling nervous. Something _was _wrong.

I looked into the mirror above the sink, and found out what it was. Staring at me was my reflection, but it was my reflection from ten years ago. It didn't look much different, but there were some slight differences.

I slowly backed away. I was having a dream. This wasn't real. I ran into the table. Strike that, it was real. I started to breathe heavily. What was going on?

I looked out the window. Everything looked unchanged. The only thing that changed was I was now ten years younger. I rolled up the sleeve on my right arm. The mark of the dragon was still gone. So why was this happening?

I quickly grabbed the phone. I had a few numbers that I had to try. I first started with Crow. "Come on, pick up," I said.

"Hello?" A tired voice said.

"Crow? It's Yusei."

"Um, Yusei, not that I don't like hearing from you, but it's three in the morning."

"I know, but something weird is happening. Quickly go to a mirror."

"Well okay." He was silent for a moment. Then he found a mirror. "Woah! I'm ten years younger!"

"So it happened to you too?"

"Wait, are you saying this happened to you?"

"Yes, and I'm thinking it happened to the other signers as well."

"I thought the Crimson Dragon decided to leave us alone."

"My arm still doesn't have a mark. I'm thinking that it doesn't involve him."

"Well, I know this is bad and all, but we probably should wait till morning to let the others know."

"Fine. See if we can get them all to meet at Martha's place in the next couple of days."

"Sure. See you there."

He hung up, and I went back to the mirror. It was just too weird. One question went through my head over. Why was this happening?

I sighed. There was no point in staying up and worrying. I went and laid back and bed. I thought I might have been developing insomnia. It would always take me forever to fall asleep. People at work had started to notice.

I scowled. Great, another thought to keep me awake. I wouldn't be able to go to work. I'm not too sure how well they would react to this.

I sighed, and got back out of bed. There was no point in trying to do what wasn't going to happen. I walked over to my closet. I still had my old jacket, shirt, and pants. I didn't wear them often, I but I found it fitting.

I changed cloths then quietly walked out of my apartment. I then went to the lobby. Before I got out of the elevator, I checked the front desk. The night guard was asleep as usual. I walked outside, and he never woke up.

I stared at the stars for a moment before I started walking. Since our project on our new clean energy source was working, all the smog that once covered the sky had vanished. Plus, where I was, there wasn't enough lights to block them out.

I looked around as I walked. I didn't have a clue where I was going, or what I was going to do. There wasn't really much to do until I figured out how and why this happened.

I was about to leave when I heard crying coming from the alley next to me. I ran down it to see a person huddled behind some crates.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

The person shook their head. "No, something bad is about to happen. I can feel it." Okay, so the person was a girl.

I walked over. "Everything will be fine. Stand up for me."

She lifted up her head, and my heart stopped working.

This girl looked just like me.

She quickly jumped out of her hiding spot. "Who are you? Why do you look like me?"

I couldn't respond. It was just too crazy. I was staring at a girl version of myself. Her hair stood up just like mine did, but hers went halfway down her back. Her eyes were the exact same color as mine. She even wore the same shirt I did.

She pulled out a dueling deck. "I don't know who you are, but I will use these."

I held my hands up. "I'm not going to hurt you. What is your name?"

She looked scared still, but she answered.

"Alice Fudo."


	2. Chapter 2

"This is crazy!" Alice exclaimed, laying ingredients out in front of her. It was morning, and she planned on making breakfast.

"I know. I still can't grasp that we're related."

"Not that! You obviously haven't cooked a day in your life. I think there are life forms in this food that haven't been discovered yet! What do you eat in the mornings?"

"Usually just whatever I can find that hasn't gone bad."

"Ugh," she said, throwing an entire moldy loaf of bread aside. "This is just sad." She started to salvage some breakfast looking foods. "So, let's get to the basic tests. What's your birthday?"

"October eighth."

She laughed. "Really? I hope you can handle more craziness, because that's my birthday too! Let me guess, year is nineteen eighty-five?"

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Don't be dumb. We're twins, genius."

I rubbed my eyes. "I think I'm in another bad dream.

"Oh quit whining, thinks could be worse." She threw a skillet onto the stove and grabbed some eggs. "Scrambled, omelet, or fried?"

"Fried. Over easy."

She started to cook. "Now, we have to deal with the problem of us being turned back into our younger selves. You mentioned something about your friends?"

"Yeah. We were once a group called the signers."

"I know, Crimson Dragon, Dark Signers, bad people, yada yada yada. Do think it has to do with that?"

"No. When we all separated, the Crimson Dragon removed our marks. It must be something else.

She finished her eggs and put them on a plate. "You also said something about someone named Martha?"

"Yeah. She lives in the Satellite. We're all going to meet at her house and try to figure out what's going on."

She sat down next to me and handed me my eggs and a fork. "It won't be the best since I didn't have any bacon grease to work with, but they should be okay."

I took a bite, and almost forgot all the issues with the world. "This is great! Aren't you going to have any?"

"I don't think I trust any of your food."

I shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Alice stood up. "Now, before we go to Martha's, we're going to the amusement park."

"Why?"

She put on a "you're stupid" expression. "Because I just found my twin and I want to go have a little fun. Let's go!" She grabbed my arm and dragged me out the door the second I put the last bit of egg in my mouth.

She marched me out the appartment, where I released myself from her grip, but didn't try to stop her. I kind of wanted to go to the park too. I never really had any fun nowadays.

And fun we did have. Alice was just mesmerized by the entire place, and made me go on every ride. She seemed to enjoy the ones that spun the most. I did to.

We got off the best ride yet. Alice was laughing. "That was great! We should do it again!"

"Why don't we get something to eat first?"

She nodded, and just as she was about to start walking, she stopped dead in her tracks. "What is it?" I asked her.

She whirled around. "Banana pudding!"

She ran over to the food cart and immediately bought two bowls of the dessert. I laughed. "How do you smell banana pudding?"

"Have you ever had it?"

"Well, no."

"Try it, then tell me you won't have banana pudding radar."

I rolled my eyes and took her other bowl. I ate it. I looked at her. She looked back. She had banana pudding on her nose. Apparently I did to. We started to laugh.

We walked around the park, finishing our desserts. They were pretty good. "So, how are we going to get to Satellite?" Alice asked.

"That depends; do you know how to ride a duel runner?"

"Do I? I love turbo duels! I'm also really good at making duel runners. I plan on becoming the most famous duel runner maker in the world."

"What did you do before we became young again?"

"I ran a duel runner repair business from my garage. It didn't bring in the largest amount of money, but I enjoyed it."

"How did you end up in the alley?"

"Well, at first I was hiding from these jerks that were trying to get me to make them a duel runner for free, then I fell asleep there, but I woke up, feeling that something was wrong. I kind of panicked. Then you showed up."

"Weird. That happened to me too."

We left the fair and headed towards my house. "So," I asked. "Do you duel?"

She sighed. "I do, but I'm not very good."

"Let me see your deck."

She handed it to me. I looked through it. "Your deck is fine. You just need a bit more practice." I pulled out a card I had recently bought. "Here, you this should help."

She took it. "Thanks."

We made it back to my apartment and went down to my garage. I entered the security kkey and it opened. I had two runners, pretty identical.

"So, you ready?" I asked her.

She walked over to my second duel runner and started to examine it. "Nice." She hopped on and put on a helmet. She started it up, and the engine roared. "This thing is sick. Yeah I ready!"

I got on mine. "Yep, let's go."

Just as we were about to leave, three Sector Security officers showed up. They had canged their name to New Domino City Police, but they would always be Sector Security to me. "That is not your property. Dismount the duel runners immediately."

"What are you talking about?" I said. "I own these."

"Um, Yusei," Alice said. "We're ten years younger, remember?"

Oh. The doorman of the apartment probably called them when we walked out of the building. "Well then, we'll do this the Satellite way." I looked at her, and she nodded.

Both of us sped out of the garage and past sector security. "Quick, don't let them get away!" One yelled. They all followed on their duel runners.

"This isn't good." Alice said. She sped ahead, getting onto the many roads that connected the verious parts of New Domino City and the Satellite. "Do you think we can outrun them?"

Two of them caught up to us. "You can't escape." They both pressed a button on their runners. "We activate the field spell Speed World 2!"

"Looks like we'll have to duel," I told Alice. We activated our field spells as well.

"Duel mode engaged. Autopilot standing by."

Alarms started to go off. The duel lane signs started popping up. "A turbo duel is about to commence. All non-dueler vehicles must vacate the combat lane immediately."

We all turned into the proper lane. "Formulating cross town duel course and awaiting central grid authority's official authorization."

"Prefrence: fastest route to Satellite!" Alice yelled.

"Course modifying to preference and awaiting central grid athority's official authorization. Authorization granted."

Parts of the road started to lift into the air. "Combat lane transfiguration underway."

We turned into the combat lane. Each pair had four thousand life points for each person. You could use cards or monsters that your partner had. When you lost life points, your partner did to. If one of you lost, both of you lost.

"Let's duel!"


	3. Chapter 3

"Let's duel!"

"I draw!" The first officer said. "I summon Gate Blocker in defense mode and end my turn!" His monster appeared in front of us.

"I draw now!" Alice said. We didn't gain a speed counter due to Gate Blocker's ability. She drew. "Yusei, I have a plan, and until I fully activate it, I need you to keep your monsters levels very low. K?

"Got it."

She turned back to her hand. "I summon Fire Princess in attack mode!" Her monster appeared.

"Hah, that monster isn't even close to beating our monster!" One of the officers said.

"I know, but that's not why I summoned her. I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"Well then it's my turn!" The next officer said.

"Not so fast!" Alice interrupted. "I activate the trap card gravity bind!" Her trap was revealed. "Now monsters with a level of four or higher can't attack."

"That was dumb. Now you can't attack either," the officer said spitefully.

"He's not wrong," I said. "Are you sure you know what you're doing?"

"Positive." She revealed her other facedown. "I also activate solemn wishes, so each time I draw a card; I gain five-hundred life points."

"Like that will help you," the officer said. "I tribute the Gate Blocker on our side of the field and summon Gate Blocker 2 in defense mode!" The new monster appeared. "I place one card face down and end my turn."

"Then I draw!" I said.

"And I activate the effect of solemn wishes!" Alice said. "We now gain five hundred life points, which activates Fire Princess's special ability! Every time we gain life points, you lose five hundred life points!" Fire Princess held out her staff and the guards were washed in fire.

"Now I get it," I said. "You used gravity bind to keep Fire Princess safe."

"You got it. I also have another surprise in store. Get your field ready for a high level monster."

"You got it. I summon Speed warrior in attack mode!" My monster appeared. "I place two cards face down and end my turn."

"This is just sad," The first officer said. "I draw!"

"And I activate speed edge!" The second officer said. "Now you lose life points equal to the difference in our speed counters times three hundred."

Our life points were decreased by fifteen hundred. "I place one card face down and end my turn." The first officer said.

"Alice, I'll deal with speed edge! You see what you can do about Gate Blocker!" I said.

"I'm on it!" Alice replied. "I draw, hich means more life points for us and less for you!"

The officers looked angry after Fire Princess's fire cleared. "That's it for you. I activate dust tornado! And I'm using it on solemn wishes!"

Alice's trap card was blown away. "Great."

The officer smiled. "That's not the end of it. Since we still have speed edge, you lose more life points."

Our life points went down to twelve hundred. "Well it won't be here for long." I said. "I activate dust tornado! Say goodbye to speed edge!" Their trap was blown away as well.

"Nice," Alice said. She looked at the card she drew. "I got it!" She smiled at me. "Get ready to summon a big monster." She turned back to her hand. "I summon Winda, Priestess of Gusto in defense mode!" Her monster appeared. "I also place two cards face down and end my turn."

The second officer growled. "You're gonna get it. I draw!" He looked at his hand. He didn't have anything to use. "I end my turn."

"Time to end this!" I said. "I draw!"

"And I activate my first trap, tyrant's temper!" Alice said, revealing her trap. "Now I release Fire Princess so our monsters are unaffected by gravity bind!"

I think I understood her plan now. I just hoped there was more to it. "I summon Junk Syncron in attack mode!" My tuner monster appeared.

"Um, I hate to rush you, but look up ahead!" Alice said. The Satellite exit was getting really close, and if we didn't end this, it would close and redirect us.

"Well then, Junk Syncron, give Speed Warrior a tune up!"

Junk syncron turned into two green rings, and as Speed Warrior passed through them, he became a golden outline of himself, and two glowing stars appeared.

"I tune Junk Syncron with Speed warrior to syncro summon Junk Warrior!"

A giant beam of light shot out from the rings.

"Let's rev it up!"

My monster appeared, and the first officer laughed. "It still can't beat our Gate Blocker 2."

"It can once I activate his special ability. He gains the attack points of all level two or below monsters we control, and Winda is a level two." Junk Warriors attack points grew to thirty-three hundred.

"And I reveal my final trap, final attack orders!" Alice said. "Now your gate blocker switches to attack position and can't switch back."

"No, that's impossible!" The first guard said.

"You'll see just how impossible it is when your life points are zero," I said. "Junk Warrior, attack with scrap fist!"

Junk warrior flew in towards Gate Blocker 2, and his glowing fist smashed right into the middle of it. It was destroyed, and their life points fell to zero.

"Quick!" Alice said. "Time to turn!"

We both veered to the left, getting out of the duel lane and back onto the road going into the satellite. Alice was ecstatic. "I can't believe it! I just turbo dueled and did have decent!"

"You did great. But next time, let's try not to cut it so close."


	4. Chapter 4

We both arrived at Martha's cottage. One of the kids staying there ran inside to tell her about us.

I took off my helmet. "Well, here we are."

Alice grabbed her helmet, and after a moment of struggle, crossed her arms irritably. "I'm stuck."

I smiled. "Keep trying."

She sighed and started to try again. I looked back at the house to see Martha coming out of the door. "Yusei? Is that you?"

"Yep, though there is a bit of a problem."

"Let me guess, another magical adventure that might destroy the world?"

"Not sure yet. The only thing we've figured out is that all of the signers have become ten years younger."

"And who is your friend?" Martha asked, watching Alice struggle.

Her helmet finally came off. "Yes, I got it!"

Martha looked shocked. "She looks just like you."

"Martha, this is my twin sister Alice."

"You never told me that you had a twin."

"We didn't know until about three-thirty last night."

Alice walked over, admiring the house. "Wow. Quite the place you got here. Are you Martha?"

"I am. Yusei came to me as a baby. Where did you grow up?"

"I was raised by some adults over on the other side of Satellite. They were the ones who taught me about duel runners. They were all taken to the facility when Sector Security discovered the duel runner they had been making."

"Did they ever get out?" Martha said, concerned.

"Oh, yeah, there fine. I come by every once and a while."

"Well that's nice. Would you two like to come in and eat?"

"Sure." We followed her into the house and to the dining room. She got us each a bowl of soup. "So besides the fact that you're both ten years younger, is anything else wrong?"

"Not really. We did a small check of New Domino City, and nothing had changed."

"Well, I must say I somewhat envy you. How I would love to lose ten years."

We all heard another duel runner approach the house. "Crow's here!" One of the children said.

We all went outside to see Crow take his helmet off. He, like us, was ten years younger. "Hey, Yusei, Martha!"

"Ah, Crow, so nice to see you again," Martha said, giving him a hug.

Crow looked at Alice. "Who's the Yusei doppelganger?"

"Crow, this is my twin Alice," I said.

"Twin? Since when did you have a twin?"

"What, do you find it freaky to have more than one Yusei?" She said, putting her arm around me.

"Honestly, yes."

"He's freaked out too," she said, smiling at me. "You would think after you people save the world nothing would surprise you, but one long lost relative shows up and you're completely thrown off."

"Martha, has anyone else shown up yet?" I asked her.

"No. Are the others coming?"

"Yep. Once they all get here we'll try to figure out what's going on."

"Yusei!"

We turned to see Jack flying towards us on his duel runner. Carly was on it behind him. They too were ten years younger.

He skidded to a halt. "You want to explain what's going on?"

"Want to, yes," Alice said, "Can we? No."

He stared. "Who are you?"

"Alice. Twin sister of Yusei. Explain later."

He blinked. "Well all right then."

Carly got off the runner. "I know you people say I turbo dueled Jack, but duel runners freak me out."

"Are Akiza, Luna, and Leo here yet?" Jack asked.

"Not yet. They'll be the last ones," I said.

That's when we heard the next duel runner. Akiza, with Leo in front of her and Luna behind her, came riding up. It had happened to them too. "So does anyone have a clue what's going on?" Akiza asked once she reached us.

"Nope, but since we're all here, we might be able to find out," I said.

"Um, Yusei," Luna said, "why is there a girl version of you?"

"Why don't we all go inside to talk?" Martha suggested.

We all followed Martha back to the dining room. "You all go ahead and start your meeting. I'll start making some more food."

"Okay, first off, why don't you explain your sister?" Jack suggested.

"Wait, this is your sister?" Akiza said, shocked.

"Well, twin, if you want to be specific," Alice said. "I'm Alice."

Everyone leaned forward and looked at us. "Does anyone see any major differences besides the basics?" Crow asked.

"Her face is a little softer," Carly noted.

"The mark on her face is on the opposite side," Leo said.

"Other than that, nothing," Jack said.

I looked at Alice, and she looked at me. "Hey, what do you know, our marks do look the same," Alice said.

"I didn't really pay attention. You went to the facility?"

"Yeah, I kind of stole a Sector Security duel runner."

"Before we launch into that fascinating story," Jack said, "does anyone have any clue whatsoever as to what's going on?"

"I don't know," Luna said, "but there's something wrong with the Spirit World."

"Spirit World?" Alice asked.

"Luna is able to communicate with duel spirits," I explained.

"Wait, Luna, didn't something like this happen when you went to save Ancient Fairy Dragon?" Leo asked. "You know, the whole de-aging thing?"

"Yes, but that isn't what's wrong."

"Then what is?" Akiza asked.

"I'm not completely sure, but it has something to do with the Divine Beasts."

"The what?" I asked.

"You mean you haven't heard of them?" Alice said. "They're more commonly known as the Egyptian God Cards."

"That name I know."

"So your saying something is wrong with them?" Carly said.

"Yep," Luna said. "I've been trying to figure out what, but very few duel spirits ever see them."

Martha came back in with a bunch of children. They were all carrying loads of food. "Dinner's ready."

We all thanked her and started to eat. She looked out the window. "It looks like it's going to rain."

Right after she said that, a downpour started to happen. "Odd," Alice said. "Did the weather call for rain today?"

"Since when are the weathermen right?" Leo asked.

Some of the younger children started to look scared. "It'll be fine, children," Martha reassured them.

"Yeah, rain is a good thing," Alice said. "In fact," she pulled an ipod out of her pocket. "I know a song about rain that deals with a duel monsters legend. A legend of the greatest turbo duelist ever, and the duel spirit that was his partner."

Alice launched into the story, eventually turning on her ipod, where a slow, sad song had started to play.

"She's a sweet girl," Martha said. "You're lucky to have her as a sister." I smiled, and nodded.

Luna frowned for a moment. "What is it, Kuribon?" She paused for a moment, then her eyes widened. "That's not an ordinary storm! That's two duel monsters!"


	5. Chapter 5

"Martha, make sure that everyone stays inside the house!" I called to her as we all ran out into the rain. We each had our duel discs on, just in case a duel was involved.

"Okay. Be careful!" She said.

"We will!" Alice called back, almost cheerfully.

"Luna, are the monsters friendly or not?" Leo asked.

"Not, definitely not!"

We all continued running until we saw the first monster. He looked like a wizard with a pot on his head. In his hand he held a staff with a sideways crescent on the top, which held what looked like a star.

"I know that one!" Alice called. "That's Wetha! He must be the one controlling all this rain."

Wetha nodded, then lifted his free hand to the sky. Alice looked up, and she took a deep breath. "Oh boy."

I looked up to, and I had to agree with Alice. Staring down at us were two giant red eyes in the clouds.

"Well do you know that one?" Jack asked.

"That's Violent Rain. He's the stronger of the two."

"I'll deal with Violent Rain," Akiza said. "You all deal with Wetha."

"How are you gonna do that?" Alice asked.

She activated her duel disc. "Simple. With my Black Rose Dragon!" She placed her favorite card onto her duel disc, and a huge pillar of purple light appeared behind her. When the light cleared, her giant dragon had appeared, and it roared at the monster in the sky.

"Woah! You're a psychic duelist?" Alice asked, amazed.

"Yep, and we're taking that monster down. Black Rose Dragon, go get him!" Her monster roared again, and flew into the sky to engage the monster.

"Alice," I said, "do you know how Wetha attacks?"

"It'll either be with a lot of rain or strong winds."

"Luna, do you know why he's attacking?"

"No, he just seems very frightened."

I nodded, then slowly walked towards him. "Yusei, what are you doing?" Jack called.

"Wetha," I said. "That's your name, right?" He nodded. "Is there a reason you're attacking us?" He nodded again. "Are you going to tell us?"

"Yusei, I don't think reasoning with it is your best idea," Crow called.

I ignored him. "Whatever we did, we can't fix it unless you tell us."

Wetha thought. He then shook his head. "So you won't tell us?" He nodded again. "Why not?

His head dipped down a bit. "Yusei, I think he's done talking!" Alice called.

She was right. He pointed his staff at me and I was knocked over by a strong gust of wind. Then he lifted it towards the sky, and a giant pillar of water started to fall towards me.

"No!" Alice yelled, running forward.

Just before the water hit me, I became surrounded in a dome of fire. The fire was warm, but not burning. When it disappeared, I saw a giant cloud of steam rising into the sky.

Alice had stopped, her eyes wide. She looked at Akiza, but Akiza was just as shocked as the rest of us. "I didn't do that. I don't own any fire using monsters unless you count Black Rose Dragon."

Wetha had paused, probably stunned liked the rest of us. He turned to Alice and pointed at her with his free hand. Her eyes widened. "Wait, _I _did that?"

He nodded, then extended his wand to her. I could see the wind move towards her. It would rip her apart. "Alice!"

She held her arms in front of her face, and a giant wall of fire erupted in front of her. The fire whipped back around her as the wind hit it, but when the wind died down, and so did the fire, she was perfectly okay.

"How are you doing that?" Leo asked exitedly.

"Who cares?" Carly said. "Just keep doing it!"

Just as Wetha was about to attack again, there was a loud roar. He whirled around, then looked at Violent Rain. Violent Rain looked back, then just seemed to disappear. Black Rose Dragon kept attacking, but she was just fighting clouds now. Wetha lifted his staff up, and a giant gust of wind blew him away into the sky.

"Is that it?" I asked.

Luna looked horrified. "No, there's another monster coming, and it's stronger than both of them!"

Alice started to slowly back up. "Um, did I mention I'm not a fan of dinosaurs?"

We all looked at her, and my heart seemed to stop beating. Two giant yellow eyes were staring down my twin. It was a giant dinosaur made out of ice. Frostosaurus.

She kept backing up, then turned tail and ran. Frostosaurus roared and turned around, hitting Alice with his tail. She flew sideways and landed hard on the ground.

"Alice!" I yelled. I ran in front of her, putting myself between her and the monster. It roared at me. I clenched my fists. I just found her, and this thing was not taking her away. I felt power coursing through me.

"Don't you dare hurt my sister!" I yelled. I held my arms out, and a giant beam of white sparkling energy flew at Frostosaurus. The force of it made me slide back a bit, but I stayed standing. The attack washed over him, and with a final roar, he was gone.

Everyone looked shocked. "Are we done now?" Carly asked weakly.

"That's it," Luna said.

"How did they do that?" Jack asked.

"Was it psychic dueling?" Crow asked.

"Can I do it?" Leo asked.

"Yusei!" Akiza said, alarmed. "Are you okay?"

I wasn't okay. I was freaking out. I fell to my knees, starting to hyperventilate. I think I might have been having a panic attack.

"Yusei!" Alice called. She got up and ran to me, getting on her knees in front of me. She put her hands on my shoulders. "Yusei!"

I looked at her. Her eyes were concerned, but calming. I felt my panic start to go back down.

"Alice, what's happening?" I asked her, my voice shaking.

She shook her head. "I don't know, but we're okay. That's all that matters." She wrapped me in a big hug, and I hugged her back.

Martha was at the door. Now that the rain stopped, we could see that it had gotten dark. "That's enough excitement and danger for one night," she said. "Let's all get to bed."


	6. Chapter 6

Alice p.o.v

I watched Yusei from the window I was sitting by. He had been sitting outside for about an hour now. I had been playing with some scrap metal and wires I had found.

"Couldn't sleep?"

I turned to see Akiza walk up. "Yeah, but that's not why I'm out here. I'm just keeping an eye on Yusei. He and I think we might have insomnia." I smiled at her. "So have you told him?"

"Told him what?" She asked, confused.

"He probably won't figure it out, but I noticed. You are so in love with him."

She looked away, blushing. "I am not."

"Yeah, you are. He's a sweet guy. You guys would be nice together."

She sighed and sat down next to me. "Is it really that obvious?"

"Uh, yeah. So what made you fall for him? Love at first sight or something more?"

She looked at him through the window. He was sitting down with his back to us. He probably had no clue that we were there. "I used to go by the name Black Rose. I couldn't control my psychic powers, so when I dueled, I hurt people. Everyone thought I was a monster. He was the first normal person to see me as a normal person and want to be my friend."

I nodded. "He'll notice eventually. Don't worry."

She looked at the metal and stuff in front of me. "What are you making?"

I examined the unfinished product. "I'm trying to make a duel board. There lots of fun."

We sat for a moment. "Do you know what happened earlier?" Akiza asked.

I shook my head. "Not with the magical stuff, but I do know what happened to Yusei. He had a panic attack. He probably freaked when he used that attack. I almost had a panic attack when I de-aged ten years."

"Is he going to be all right?"

"Yeah, he just needed a moment."

Akiza nodded, then looked down. "You know, I'm a little jealous of you."

"Why?"

"The way you and Yusei seem to connect. You two wielded amazing power trying to save each other. He seems more relaxed with you. You were able to bring him out of his panic attack. I wish I could be that close to him."

"Hey, don't be so hard on yourself. I'm his twin. He can open up to that easier. Now, why don't you go get some sleep? I'm going to go get him and bring him in."

Akiza nodded, then went back to her room. I walked into the kitchen, warmed up some milk, and took it outside with me. I sat down next to Yusei and gave it to him. "A glass of warm milk always helped me fall asleep."

He took it and drank some of it. "Are you okay?" I asked.

He set the cup down. "I've never had as much trouble sleeping as I have the past couple of days, and tonight I just had a panic attack."

"I've been having some trouble with sleep too. As for the panic attack, if you hadn't shown up, I would have had one in the ally."

He looked at his hands. They were shaking ever so slightly. "I'm supposed to be the calm one. The one who always stays collected." His fists clenched. "Alice, I'm scared. I don't even really know why, but I'm scared." He closed his eyes, trying to block tears.

"I would be concerned if you weren't. You're not a one man army. Look around you. You have loads of friends, Martha, me. We're all here for you. You don't have to always be the hero."

He nodded, and I gave him a hug. He hugged me back, starting to cry a bit harder. He was trying very hard not to.

After a while, he stood up. "Thanks, Alice."

"Hey, what are twins for?" He walked back to the house with me following a bit behind. He went back to his room, and I started cleaning up my machine parts.

"You can go to bed. I'll clean that up."

I looked up to see Martha. "That's okay," I said. "I got it."

Martha sat down. "That was very nice, what you did for Yusei."

I shrugged. "He's my twin. I can't let him bottle all that up."

"It was also nice what you said to Akiza."

"Well, I'm pretty sure he likes her back, so that will all work out well."

"And what of you? You seem to be relatively calm with everything that's going on."

I chuckled. "I'm horrified, but I'm still letting it sink in."

Martha stood up. "Well, once you all go out on the great adventure that we all know is coming, you take good care of Yusei for me. He may not admit it, but he needs someone like you."

I nodded. "I will."

She smiled, and handed me a glass of warm milk. "Good night." She walked away.

I smiled at the glass. Everyone here was so nice. I think I had finally found something I had never truly been good at finding.

Friends.


	7. Chapter 7

Yusei p.o.v

"Yeah!"

We all watched as Alice was launched off the ramp on her duel board. She spun around about three times then landed smoothly.

"You're increadible!" Leo said. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

"It took a lot of practice and a couple of broken bones."

Martha came walking out. "Now Alice, if I have to heal any broken bones from that thing I'm taking it away and throwing it in a junk pile."

"Fair enough," Alice said, smiling. She took of again.

"So," Carly said, "until we get a more solid lead on what's going on, what are we going to do today?"

Alice came speeding back. "I know! Let's go to the ball!"

"The what?" I asked.

"The New Domino Ball. It's usually held before a tournament, but since there isn't one coming up, there just having it for fun. Anyone can come."

"I don't think so," I said.

"Yeah, not a great idea," Crow said.

"Oh, come on, it'll be fun." She grabbed Akiza and Carly. "We're heading out to look for dresses. Luna, do you want to come?"

"Sure." Luna ran up behind Akiza. Alice got on her duel runner with Carly behind her and Akiza got on hers with Luna behind her. They took off, ignoring Crow's and my protests.

"Where are they going to get money for dresses?" Jack asked.

"No idea," I said. I walked over to my duel runner and got on.

"Where the heck are you going?" Crow asked.

"If you can't beat them, join them." I sped away before he could say another world.

_Alice p.o.v_

"Are we really doing this?" Carly asked, waiting to see Akiza's dress.

"Yes," I said, going through a rack oof dresses. "I love dancing. Plus, I could name some certain people who would enjoy a dance."

Carly blushed and looked away. Luna came back with a dress in her hand. "I found one. Do you think it will look nice?"

"You'll have to put it on to find out." I started at the dressing room. "I kind of feel bad for Akiza. None of these dresses work for her."

"Maybe this one will," Carly said.

"I'm ready," Akiza called from the dressing room. She walked out, and yes, she had found her dress.

"That is amazing!" I exclaimed. Akiza looked rather uncomfortable. The dress was sleeveless, with a thick strap on her left shoulder. It flowed down to the ground, where it was embroidered with silver. It was a beautiful red, with a small rose pinned on the strap.

"Wow," Carly said.

"You look wonderful," Luna said.

"Well, now that we know that I'm getting this one," Akiza said uncomfortably, "can I get out of it?"

"Sure," I said, smiling. "Your turn Luna."

_Yusei p.o.v_

"Are we seriously about to do this?" Crow asked.

"We don't have anything better to do," I said, buttoning my shirt.

"There are loads of things we could be doing! We could be practicing dueling, working on the runners-"

"I'm guessing you don't know how to dance," Jack said.

My heart skipped a beat when he said that. I just realized I didn't know how either. Crow was still freaking out. "Of course I don't know how! I've never needed to know how!"

"Oh, quit whining, it's not that hard."

We all walked out of our rooms and to the dining room, where Leo and Luna were waiting with Martha. Leo had on a white tux while luna had a simple cream colored dress.

"Oh, don't you all look so hansom," Martha said, giving us all a big hug. "I hope you all have fun tonight."

"We will," a voice said from the hallway.

We turned to see Alice walking over excitedly, Akiza and Carly much slower. Alice had on an elegant dark blue dress that seemed to sparkle a bit. Carly's dress was white, and only went down to her knees, which she didn't seemed to thrill about. She had taken off her glasses, revealing grey eyes.

My breath was taken away by Akiza. Her dress was red, with a rose pinned to the thick strap on her left shoulder. She always had worn the same outfit, and it was odd to see her in this much softer looking dress.

"Who's ready to go dancing?" Alice asked.

I smiled at her. "From the looks of things, only you."

She shrugged. "Well, hope ya'll get ready before we get there." She gave Martha a hug. "Bye, Martha. We'll be back soon."

We all said goodbye to Martha, and went to the duel runners. We all mounted up, this time Leo on my duel runner, and took off to domino city.

After a short enough trip, we reached the building where the ball was being held. We all walked in. Alice was ecstatic, but the rest of us were a little nervous.

Alice smiled at us. "Come on, this is a ball. Relax. Have a little fun." She ran off without telling anyone where she was going.

"Who's idea was this again?" Carly asked.

"The same person's who just ran into the crowd," Jack said.

"I wonder where the food is," Leo said, following Alice.

"Wait for me," Luna said, close behind.

I looked around. "Well, now what?"

The song that had been playing ended and a slower song started up. Jack held his hand out to Carly. "Since we are at a ball, may I have this dance?"

She took his hand. "A-alright."

They walked over to the dance floor. "Man, Jack seems to be the only one who knows what he's doing here, besides Alice," Crow said.

Alice ran back over. "Hey, Crow, will you come dance with me?"

"What?" Crow asked, shocked.

She grabbed his hand. "Come on, let's dance!" He was dragged onto the dance floor, and they started dancing.

Akiza smiled. "Your sister is a nice person, though a bit, um, foward at times."

I smiled. "How did you guys get the dresses?"

"We all chipped in a bit. I had the biggest contribute."

I looked back over to the dancers, and caught Alice's eye for a split second, and in that moment, I basically got a lecture from her. I held my hand out to Akiza. "Shall we dance?"

She blushed. "I've never danced before."

"Neither have I. Come on."

We walked over by Crow and Alice and started to dance. We were doing okay. No one had stepped on the other person's foot yet.

"So, how are your parents?" I asked her.

"They're fine. I go over to have dinner with them every once and a while."

Alice spun by us, and I felt her lightly tap my back. I took that as she wanted me to shut up and dance.

The song ended, and another slow one started up. I saw no reason to stop dancing. We continued, and I looked over to see Crow and Alice standing next to Luna and Leo. She smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

I was going to kill her.

"You know," Akiza said. "I think this is the longest time any of us have done something normal."

There was a loud scream from somewhere inside the crowd. Akiza sighed. "I had to say something."


	8. Chapter 8

We all ran over to where we had heard the scream. Lying on the floor looked like an ordinary person who had been attending the ball, with the main exception of her being blue. Her dress was very large and green. She wore what sort of looked like a crown of silver.

"Mystical Elf!" Carly cried.

The elf's eyes opened immediately and she shot to her feet. "Where am I?" She whirled around, horrified.

Alice walked forward slowly. "Don't worry. You're safe."

Mystical Elf started to back up. "No. Stay away." She continued to walk backwards. Soon she was going to run into the window that was being covered by a large red curtain.

Wait a minute; it had a window _next_ to it.

Alice caught this as well. "No! Stop!" Mystical Elf did, but not in time. Two bony hands came through the curtain, one wrapping itself around her mouth, the other around her waist. They pulled her backwards, and she melted into the curtain.

"Curtain of the Dark Ones," Alice said. "Everyone back away!" She held her arms out, and a wall of fire separated the crowd and the curtain.

The curtain had started to glow. What looked like an orange dragon had started circling in front of it.

"Not good," Alice said.

She was right. That was the orange dragon printed on the polymerization card.

The glowing died down, and standing there was an armored clown holding a scythe. Kamionwizard. He cackled evilly and swung his scythe through the flames. They died down immediately.

"Akiza?" I asked.

She grabbed a duel disc that had been sitting on a nearby table. "I'm on it. Come forth Twilight Rose Knight!" She placed the card on the duel disc, and the monster appeared. It held it's sword up, then charged Kamionwizard.

Kamionwizard laughed. He swung the blunt side of his scythe and knocked Twilight Rose's sword out of his hand. Then he kicked him in the chest, and he flew back.

"No!" Akiza cried, running over to him.

Alice scowled at him. "You want to go, bub?"

Kamionwizard laughed and charged Alice. She charged too. He swung his sythe, but she slid down on her knees and tripped him. He fell to the ground. Alice moved in, but he swung his scythe at her. She jumped out of the way, and it just barely missed shredding her, tearing her dress.

"Alice, no!" I yelled.

Kamionwizard got back up and walked towards her, cackling crazily. Alice thrusted her hand out, and a spear of fire flew at him. He knocked it away with his free hand and knocked her aside with the blunt end of his scythe. She hit the ground, clutching her side.

"Alice!" I ran forward and put myself between her and the monster. I couldn't attack, otherwise I might bring down the building. That's when I got an idea. I concentrated on his scythe hand and snapped my fingers. The same sparkling energy that I had used last night appeared around his hand, and he dropped his scythe, crying out in pain.

I was feeling pretty good, until he attack me. He swung with his free hand, which I duck, but then he struck me in the side with his elbow and spun around, kicking the same side and sending me flying. I landed hard.

I looked back to see Kamionwizard moving in on Alice. She was backing up, but she wasn't making any progress. Just as Kamionwizard raised his foot to stomp on her, a sword tip sprouted from his stomach. He looked down in surprise, then dissolved into shadows. Twilight Rose Knight was standing there, his sword still held where he stabbed him.

I tried to get up to see if Alice and the others were okay, but I immediately fell back to the ground, a searing pain in my side.

Alice, who seemed uninjured, ran over to me. "Yusei!" She gingerly touched my side, and I flinched in pain. Kamionwizard kicked hard.

She quickly looked at the others. "We have to get him back to Martha, now!"

Jack and Crow ran over and picked me up as gingerly as possible, but it still hurt like crazy. They took me outside and put me onto Alice's duel runner. She hopped on. "Akiza, you come with me. Jack, Crow, stay with Luna and Leo to make sure that everyone here is okay." Without a confirmation from any of them, she took off, not even bothering to put her helmet on.

"Yusei, you better be okay," she said, flying down the road. "I did not find you just to have you die two days later."

She weaved in and out of cars skillfully, and was soon on the straight rode to the Satellite. I was doing okay, but then my vision started to blur, and I felt dizzy. I grabbed onto Alice's shoulders for extra support. She looked at me in concern, then laid on the gas, flying down the road.

She made it to Martha's in about five minutes. "Martha! I need help!" She yelled.

Martha opened the door quickly. "What's wrong?"

She started gingerly helping me off the bike. "Yusei. He was kicked by a monster in his side and isn't looking good."

Martha called inside. "I need help over here." Some older kids came out and picked me up, carrying me into the house. They took me to the medical room and laid me down on one of the beds.

Martha came running in, followed by Alice. "Okay, Yusei. Where are you hurt?"

"My left side."

She lifted up my shirt and gasped. A long gash was there, bleeding a large amount. She quickly grabbed some towels and started to dab at the blood. Then she pressed it on the cut. "How did this happen?"

"When he kicked me, his boots must have had a spike on it or something."

She moved the towels away for a second, then started applying pressure again. "Lucky for you it doesn't look to deep."

I nodded, then looked at Alice. She was holding her side, and her face was a little pale. "Alice, are you okay?"

She nodded, then started out of the room. Right after her first step, she fell to the floor. "Alice!" I said, trying to get up.

Martha pushed me back down, then ran over to her. She pulled at the tear in her dress, making the hole wide enough to get to Alice's side. There was a lot of blood. She grabbed more towels and mopped it up. Then she gasped.

"What?" I asked. "What is it?"

"Your cuts," she said. "They're exactly the same."


	9. Chapter 9

"So your cuts are identical?" Akiza asked. Everyone had gathered in the medical room after Martha and Dr. Schmidt had patched us up. Thankfully, they let us get out of our fancy cloths into something a bit more comfortable. Unfortunately, Martha had bedridden us both for the next couple of days.

Alice nodded. "Yeah. We don't necessarily know if it means something, though."

"I'll test it," Jack said. "Alice, close your eyes.

Alice did so. After a pause, he punched me in the shoulder. Alice whirled around to the direction of the noise and hit her shoulder on the bed frame.

The same shoulder.

"Woah," Crow said. "Kind of creepy."

"So is this a good thing or a bad thing?" Leo asked.

"Well, if one breaks their leg, the other one probably will, so I'd say no," Jack said.

"Okay, now that we've dealt with the whole twin telepathy voodoo," Alice said, "onto a more important matter. I think I've figured out what's going on."

"You have?" Carly asked.

Alice nodded. "Luna, you said that something was wrong with the Divine Beasts. Then monsters are appearing in this world. I think that the Divine Beasts are what keeps the spirit world parallel to our world. Since something bad is happening to them, our worlds are starting to merge."

"So what are we supposed to do?" Luna asked.

"Simple. We all go to the spirit world, save the Divine Beasts, and come home."

"And how exactly are we going to do that?" Jack asked.

Martha walked in. "I hate to interrupt, but there is someone here who wishes to speak to Luna."

We looked to see a tall old man walk into the room. He was either a monster or a huge fan of the Dark Sage, since he looked just like him. The gem on the top of his wooden staff was sparkling.

"Torunka!" Luna said. "What are you doing here?"

"Wait, you know him?" Crow asked.

"Yeah. When I went to save Ancient Fairy Dragon, he helped me free Regulus and defeat Zeman the Ape King."

"How nice to see you again," Torunka said to her. He smiled at Alice. "I'm very glad you figured out what was going on so soon. We figured out just yesterday."

"Who's we?" Carly asked.

"An elite group of spellcasters. Sadaha, another spellcaster, is searching the house. She should be here in a moment or two."

"Which duel spirit is she?" Leo asked.

"She is the Medium of the Ice Barrier."

A woman walked into the room. She wore a long sleeved blue and white dress, and her blue hair went down to her knees. "The house is secure. Are we almost ready?"

"Wait, wait wait," Alice said, "you haven't told us why you're here."

The woman, Sadaha, frowned. "Why, we are here to take you to the spirit world, of course."

Luna looked confused. "You guys can take all of us to the spirit world. How?"

"Well, it's a bit harder now that the parallel line is breaking," Torunka said. "Last time I could transport you, and I still can, but we're using two spellcasters to do it now. One of us does the transporting, while the other determines the destination. This is to make sure we arrive somewhere safe in the spirit world."

"Are you taking all of us?" Akiza asked.

"No," Sadaha said. "Like we said, it's getting harder to cross over. Plus, for most of us, there are only certain times we can do it. Everyone will be going in pairs. Since we came specifically for Luna, she gets to choose your traveling companion."

"Well that's a no brainer. I choose Leo."

Torunka nodded. "Good. We'll be able to leave in five minutes."

"What's in five minutes?" I asked.

"That's when the sun will be directly over the ice barrier," Sadaha said. Then, her eyes widened, and she crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

"Sadaha?" Torunka said, sitting her upright.

Her eyes shot open, and a yellow gem appeared on her forhead. She spoke in a much deeper voice. _"When the transporters come, as when the sun lights the forest, there will be a shadow."_ Her eyes closed again, and the gem disappeared.

"Um, what was that?" Carly asked.

"She's a medium," Alice said, as if the answer was obvious, "that was a prophecy."

Sadaha opened her eyes again, looking horrified. "Someone's coming."

"You guys go outside and see what it is," Alice said. "We can't exactly do much."

Jack nodded. "Let's go get this monster."

"Wait," Sadaha said. She touched both Alice's and my foreheads. It felt cold for a moment, then went back to normal. "Just say 'medium sight' and you'll be able to see what I see."

Everyone walked out of the room. I looked at Alice. "Should we try it?"

"Of course." She closed her eyes, and I did so to.

"Medium sight."

When I opened my eyes, I was no longer in the medical room. I was running out of the house. Wait, no, Sadaha was running out of the house. I was seeing though her eyes.

Weird.

In front of everyone was another spellcaster, but this one didn't look friendly. The two most noticeable things about him was he only had a mouth, and he had a head on each shoulder, a boy on the right, a girl on the left.

"Ifm," Sadaha said. "This isn't good."

Akiza pulled a card out of her deck. "He doesn't scare us. Rose Tentacles, show him what we're made of!" She held her card up, and in a flash of light, her monster appeared.

Torunka looked impressed. "A spirit summoner. Impressive."

Rose Tentacles started lashing out at Ifm, but wasn't doing so well. Every time he was about to hit him, Ifm would wave his hand, and the tentacle would fly to the side. He started to slowly walk forward.

"What do we do?" Carly asked. "Anyone else able to do some magic attack like Yusei and Alice?"

"Well, you haven't tried yet," Luna said.

"Oh yeah, like I'm going to attack him with large spikes from the ground." She held her hand out, and, to everyone's surprise, a wave of huge spikes started appearing. They kept popping up, moving quickly in the direction of Ifm. He batted away another tentacle then held his hand out to the spikes. They stopped moving.

Carly looked shocked. "I didn't actually want to do it."

"Not our biggest issue," Leo said. "Ifm is getting closer." He was right. Ifm was only a few yards away.

"Since he came to stop us from leaving," Crow said, "can't two of us just leave and he'll leave too?"

"It's worth a try," Sadaha said.

Ifm heard this, and started to move faster. He was a few steps away.

"Time to go!" Torunka said. He picked Luna up. "Sadaha, now!"

Sadaha reached out and grabbed the person closest to her, which just happened to be Jack. She held her hand up, and in a flash of light, I was back to my body.

I lay there, breathing deeply. I looked at Alice, who was doing the same thing. "Do you think Ifm left?"

"I don't know."

We waited for a couple of minutes, then everyone came back in. "Did you guys see all of that?" Crow asked.

"Yeah. Did Ifm leave?"

"No," Akiza said. "but right after they disappeared, that gave Rose Tentacles just enough time to get rid of him."

"Good," I said. "So what now?"

"We do the only thing we can do," Alice said. "Wait."


	10. Chapter 10

_Jack p.o.v_

After the flash of light faded, and my vision returned to normal, I saw I was no longer outside Martha's house. All that I saw was ice. Ice, ice, and more ice.

Torunka and Luna were next to Sadaha, who was talking to a short man who was riding what looked like a small dragon. I couldn't see his face. He wore one of those huge backpacks that had way to much stuff in it. "So you finally got them?" He asked her.

"Yes, and I want to know if you can call on one of the defenders or dragons to take them to the village."

"Okay, just give me a second." He dug in his bag for a minute, then pulled out box of whistles. "I don't think Blizzed is doing anything." He pulled out a bird shaped whistle and blew into it. "He should be here soon."

"Thank you."

"No problem." He flicked the reigns, and the lizard started trotting away.

"So where exactly are we?" I asked.

"Well, we were supposed to be at the gate to the ice barrier," Sadaha said, "but I accidentally put us about fifty miles north of it. Blizzed should be here soon to take us there."

"Who's Blizzed?" Luna asked.

There was a loud shriek that a sounded like it came from a bird. We looked up to see a giant armored blue and white bird diving down to us. Just as he was about to hit us, he spread out his wings and gently landed in front of us.

"That would be him," Torunka said.

Sadaha smiled and walked over to him. He lowered his head, and she petted his beak. "Are you doing well?"

He clicked his beak. "That's good. Do you mind giving us a ride to the barrier?"

He clicked his beak again. "Thank you." Blizzed lowered his wing down, and Sadaha walked up it and sat on his back. "Shall we be going?"

"Yes, please," Luna said. "It's freezing." She climbed on, Torunka getting on behind her. I climbed on last.

Blizzed stood up and spread his wings out. "Everyone hold on!" Sadaha said. With a strong beat, Blizzed launched himself into the air. I slid back a bit, but grabbed some of Blizzed sturdy feathers. He was extremely fast.

After maybe three minutes, I looked down to see a small village underneath us. Blizzed swooped down, and landed just outside its gates.

We all got off, and Sadaha thanked Blizzed. He clicked his beak twice in response then took off again. "Come with me," Sadaha said. She led us into the village and to the largest wooden house. "You are about to meet the generals, so please behave."

We walked into the house, and a wave of heat washed over us. Three men were sitting around the fire. The one nearest to us, who wore a long robe, stood up. "You are back."

"Yes," Sadaha said. "Raiho, this is Luna and-" she frowned, looking at me. "You never told me your name."

"Jack Atlas."

The man, Raiho, nodded. "We all welcome you to our village. You are here to try to save the Divine Beasts?"

"That's the plan," Luna said.

"Then you may stay for as long as you wish. Your cloths are not made for here. I will see to it that Elizabeth makes you something warmer." He walked past us and out the door.

The second general, the best built out of them all, smiled. "I'm Gantala. It's nice to see that Sadaha can get out and do something. She is usually reluctant to leave the barrier."

"I'd like to know what exactly is the barrier," I said.

He smiled at me. "A little demanding. Be careful who you demand, because not everyone here takes kindly to being ordered. But to answer your question, the ice barrier is the last defense for the frozen lands. We're here to make sure that the barrier stays safe, so that the north stays cold."

"Why? Wouldn't it be nicer if it was warmer?"

"It might feel better, but don't forget that where there is ice, there is water. If the north melts, the spirit world will become flooded. I'm fairly sure that your world faces something like this. What do you call it? Global Warming?"

Raiho came back in, followed by a young girl. She wore a brown coat and a long blue scarf. "Hello. I'm Elizabeth. You are who I am making cloths for?"

"Yeah, and I hope you finish soon," Luna said, shivering. "It's really cold outside."

"Don't worry. I'll be quick." She looked over both Luna and me, then walked over to a corner. She held her hand out, and a spinning wheel made of ice formed. She touched the wheel, and it started to spin, cloth being woven together by string that was magically appearing.

"There," she said. "It should be done by tonight." She walked over by me. "You all are from Earth, correct?"

"Yes."

She sighed. "How I envy you. I've always dreamed of crossing over. I hear legends of great composers, of beautiful ballets." She spun away, seeming lost in her own world. I looked at Raiho for an explanation.

He laughed. "Elizabeth is our dance princess. She's mesmerized by music and dancing. She wants to go to earth because you all have a lot more of it than we do." Elizabeth started to spin rapidly like a ballet dancer. "As you can see, she would become famous rather fast."

She sighed and stopped. "But, alas, I cannot cross over. I am not strong enough."

The final general, the one clad in armor, raised his head. "Nekitsu."

A yellow armored fox ran in the door. He barked twice. Raiho's eyes widened. "That's not good. Let's go."

"Wait, what's wrong?" Luna asked.

"We're under attack. You two stay in here to stay safe." He walked out the door, Gantala and the other general following.

"Wait for me!" Elizabeth said.

Gantala stopped her. "You are not ready for this. Stay inside." He shut the door in her face.

She looked furious and offended. "No!" She kicked the door with extreme force, but it didn't budge. She started to pound away. "This isn't fair! I want to help!"

I rolled my eyes and walked over. I pulled her away, then turned the doorknob. "There you go."

She blinked. "Oh, oops." She ran out the door. "You can't trap me that easily!"

I started outside to. "Luna, are you coming?"

"I think I'll stay here," she said.

I nodded, then followed Elizabeth. The second I caught sight of what we were fighting, I almost went back inside.

Blue-Eyes White Dragon.

I watched as the monster engaged Blizzed in battle. Blizzed was fighting well, but he was no match. After a single white lightning attack, he fell to the ground.

That's when the reinforcements came. Three dragons flew out of the clouds and attacked the monster. One was a very bright blue, the next darker and faintly glowing red, and the last stony grey and blue. They all attacked, and Blue-Eyes roared. It flew up higher into the sky, then flew away.

The generals watched it leave. "Why did she attack us?"

"She?" I said, walking over. "Blue-Eyes White Dragon is a she?"

"Yes," Raiho said. "Her spirit was once human, that of a girl named Kisara. Didn't we tell you to stay in the house?"

"Oops, looks like I forgot."

The armored general looked to his left. "Lava."

Gantala frowned. "What do you mean, Grunard?"

"Flames are rising. Heat is coming." He turned to me. "You, human, who is your partner?"

"Partner? I work alone."

He shook his head. "No dueler is alone. What is your most prized card?"

My hand instinctively moved to my deck, which was in its holder on my belt. "Why does it matter?"

"Does anything about it have to do with fire?"

"So what if it does?"

He looked back to his left. "There is a volcano over there. Our greatest enemy sleeps there, and has slept for many years. You and the other human show up, and he starts to stir. There must be a connection. Who is your partner?"

"Red Dragon Archfiend."

He was deep in thought. "The only way to confirm my fears is to check the volcano."

In a flash, Elizabeth was next to me, holding my arm. "We'll go check. You never let me do anything. Plus, you know I'm super stealthy."

He sighed. "I don't know."

She batted her eyes. "Please?"

He scowled. "Fine, but if you're not back by sundown, I'm sending all three dragons after you."

She nodded. "Don't worry." She yanked my arm and we started running. "We'll be back soon!"

After we were a good distance away, she let go of my arm and started walking quickly. All cheeriness was gone. "Try to keep up."

I followed. "Would you tell me why you volunteered me for this?"

"I'm saving your life."

I scowled. "And how did you do that?"

"Our world is on the brink of chaos. This is a peaceful place most of the time, but when something goes wrong, it goes _extremely _wrong. Everyone is picking sides."

"And aren't you all on the good side?"

"You don't know much about this world, do you? True, you do have some of the spirits who just pick one side and stay there, but a lot of them pick the side that benefits them."

When I still didn't get it, she scowled. "Our job is to protect the ice barrier. Even if you are here to save the divine beasts, if you threaten the ice barrier, the generals might choose to either kill or banish you."

I stopped walking. "If they might kill us, why did we leave Luna with them?"

Elizabeth stopped too. "Uh-oh."

I turned around. "I'm going to get her."

She grabbed my arm. "Oh no you're not. We have to play this smart. If you go back to get her, they'll know something's up. They'll be kind to her. She's just a girl. We just need to hurry and get to the volcano."

I reluctantly nodded, and we set off back to the volcano. After a long walk, a large mountain came into view. Elizabeth held her arm out to stop me. "Time to go into stealth mode." She held her hand out in front of her, and spun it in a circle slowly. A delicate gust blew around us, and covered us in a light coat of snow.

"This keeps us hidden?"

"You'd be surprised." We started up the mountain. It wasn't very steep, but it was huge, so it took us a good long while to get to the top. When we did, Elizabeth grabbed my arm and pulled me down. I saw why.

Two duel spirits were looking down into the volcano. One was a well built man with blue hair and a red robe. The other was a girl with a blue dress and grey hair. There card versions were Flame Ruler and Lady Assailant of Flames. They hadn't noticed us yet.

"Is he going to rise?" The girl asked.

The man nodded. "Yes, but in due time. Don't forget, he requires certain conditions to awake."

I looked at Elizabeth, but she didn't get it. I did. If awaking the monster was anything like summoning one in the game, then I had a feeling that girl wasn't going to be around much longer.

She rubbed her arm. "This doesn't feel right. I always thought the divine beasts were good and protected us."

The man smiled at her. His warm smile didn't meet his eyes. "Oh, Silaba. Poor, misguided Silaba. I know that you thought that before, but I was here to tell you of their true origin. They are cruel, heartless creatures, and should be destroyed. We will help destroy them by causing chaos in the ice barrier. Once the Lava Golem rises, nothing will stop us."

Elizabeth's eyes widened. I felt a little nervous myself. That was a very strong card. I didn't want to meet the real thing.

I shifted ever so slightly, and Silaba turned in our direction. Without even thinking about it, she threw a knife in our direction. Elizabeth held her hand out, and a large snowflake appeared, which stopped the knife. "Run!" She yelled.

The man whirled around, and smiled. "Elizabeth. We should have known." I had started to run, but stopped when I saw Elizabeth hadn't moved. "You're skills in magic have improved, but I bet you still are unable to cross over."

She scowled. "Hello, Matthew. How have you been?"

"Oh, a little chilled lately, but I'm working on fixing that."

I walked up beside Elizabeth. "Dare you to try."

He scowled. "And you are?"

"The one who will stop you." I looked at Silaba. "Why are you listening to him? Do you really believe he's telling the truth?"

She looked away. "I-I just-"

"You had it right. The Divine Beasts protect this world. You don't want to destroy the ice barrier."

She looked confused. Matthew put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't listen to that liar. He wishes to destroy you." He held his free hand up, and a ball of flame ignited in it. "Which is exactly what we shall do to them!"

He let loose his attack, but Elizabeth tackled me to the ground. The fire flew past the place where I had been standing. Elizabeth stood up. "Run! Get out of here!" She held her arms out, and two snowflake shields formed, just like on her card. Matthew continued to throw fire, and she would deflect it.

Matthew laughed. "You _have _improved." He lunged forward and grabbed her by the throat. "But not enough to defeat me."

I didn't even think about what I was doing. I ran forward, my fist flying out to punch him. I had to get him off Elizabeth. To my surprise, my fist became surrounded in orange fire. I hit him in the face, and he flew away, releasing Elizabeth immediately.

Elizabeth stared at me. "That would be why we would kill you."

I nodded. "Fair enough. Let's go."

Elizabeth looked back at Silaba. "Come with us. We'll help you."

Matthew was getting back up. "Now, Silaba, destroy them!"

Silaba's eyes looked misty. "I'm sorry."

Elizabeth's looked misty too. "Me too." She held her hand out, and a wall of dancing snow engulfed both of them. We both took off down the mountain, not looking back.

After a short run, we made it back to the village. Grunard was standing at the gate waiting for us. "What happened? What did you find out?"

Elizabeth looked him in the eye. "Matthew is back. He plans to unleash the Lava Golem."


End file.
